Wrench



Patented Aug. 9, |8198. W. J. WALKER.

WRENCH.

(Application filed Mar. 14, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Unirse Sra-rhs i 'afrnn'r 'tribal WILLIAM J. WALKER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 608,735, dated August 9, 1898. Application tiled March 14, 1898. Serial No. 673,808. (No model.)

T0 all whom, z't-may concern:

Be it ,known that LWILLIAM J. WALKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vrenches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in wrenches; and it consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims. f

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the wrench, showing the movable jaw in vertical middle section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the operating end of the wrench, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3 3 of Fig. l.

The object of my invention is to construct a wrench whose movable jaw can be shifted to and from the stationary jaw with a minimum loss of time andwhen once adjusted will offer a maximum amount of resistance against movement from its set position. In detail the invention may be described as follows:

Referring to the drawings, l represents the stationary jaw, 2 the shank thereof, and 3 the handle proper. The upper face or edge of the shank is slightly inclined to the lower edge, which is disposed at right angles to the stationary jaw, whereby the shank tapers from the handle toward the stationary jaw. The movable jaw 4. is passed over the shank before the handle is attached thereto and is provided above the inclined edge of the shank with a housing 5, designed to receive the gripping-blocks 6 and 7, respectively. The adjacent faces of the blocks are hollowed out and screw-threaded, the bases of the depressions so formed being inclined tothe opposite eX- terior plane faces of the blocks, the plane faces being designed to contact with the inclined edge of the shank and with the inner surface of the upper wall of the housing, respectively, said upper wall being substantially parallel to the lower face of the shank. Carried by the front vertical wall of the housing is the smooth shank portion of a controlling-screw 8, the outer projecting end being provided with a milled head 9, adapted to bc seized by the hand and turned in either direction. The inner tapering screw-threaded portionis interposed between and coperates with the screw-threaded depressions of the blocks. An outer collar l0 limits the inward movement of the screw. Upon turning the screw in proper direction the tapering screwthreaded end will drive the blocks apart, causing them to grip the housing and shank, respectively, and thus tightly clamp the movable jaw in any position to which it may have been slid. To unclamp the movable jaw, the screw is turned in the opposite direction, thereby loosening the blocks.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the f inclined edge of the shank acts as a wedge against any tendency for the movable jaw to shift after being once set and clamped and after the wrench is applied to a nut seized between the jaws. It is obvious, of course, that the edge need not necessarily be a plane surface, nor need the surface of the block riding thereover be plane. It is obvious that inasmuch as the screw is mounted parallel to the length of the shank it will not project laterally from the housing, and hence will be out of the way of the operator and will not come in contact with surrounding objects when the operator is working in close quarters. I may add in this connection that this principle of construction need not be limited in its application to nut-wrenches, but may be applied to pipe-wrenches as well.

Having described my invention, what I claim is-- 1. A wrench comprising a stationary jaw, a shank carried thereby and having one face inclined to its opposite face, the shank tapering toward the stationary jaw along said face, a movable jaw sliding along said shank, gripping-blocks carried within the sliding jaw on the side of the inclined face, and means for forcing the gripping blocks apart and respectively against the inclined face of the shank and the upper wall of the housing, substantially as set forth.

2. A wrench ycomprising a stationary jaw, a shank carried thereby having the lower face disposed at right angles to the stationary jaw, and an upper face inclined thereto, a sliding jaw mounted on the shank, a housing formed IOO in the sliding jaw, gripping-blocks confined Within the housing and having faces adapted to be forced respectively against the inclined face of the shank and against the upper wall of the housing, screw-threaded depressions formed along the adjacent faces of the blocks, a screw carried by the front vertical wall of the housing and adapted to be forced between the screw-threaded depressions of the blocks, a head carried by the outer projecting end of the screw, and a limiting-collar located adjacent to the head, the parts operating substantially and as for the purpose set forth.

3. In a wrench, a stationary jaw, a shank for the same having one face inclined toward said jaw, a movable jaw, a housing in the same, gripping-blocks carried within the housing to one side of the inclined face, one block having an inclined face parallel to the inclined face of the shank, and adapted to be forced against the same, and a second block having a face parallel to the upper wall of the housing and adapted to be forced against said Wall, and a tapering screw carried by the housing and adapted to force the blocks apart, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. WALKER. Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, ALEXANDER YOUNG-e 

